The questions that separate venues are not about the view. They are about access hours, exclusivity, guest capacity for your format, power, water, bathrooms, supplier freedom, the wet-weather plan, the noise curfew, and exactly what the hire fee includes.
Ask all of them on the site visit and get the answers in writing. Two venues quoting the same fee can be thousands of dollars and one very different day apart.
Site visits are seductive. You stand in a paddock at golden hour, everything is beautiful, and you forget to ask what the ground does in June.
So take a list. These are the questions that actually separate venues, grouped so you can work through them without it feeling like an interview. Get the answers in writing afterwards.
Access and exclusivity
- What hours do we have the property for?
- Can we set up the day before? What time?
- When does everything have to be off site?
- Is any other event running on the property during our booking?
- Is any accommodation let separately to unrelated guests?
- Is the property open to the public that day?
- Who else will be on site, and where will they be?
Hours are the most under-asked question on the list, and the one that most affects how the weekend feels.
Capacity and format
- What is the capacity seated, and what is it standing?
- Where does the ceremony happen? Is there more than one option?
- Where does the reception go, and what is the floor area?
- Where do guests go between the ceremony and the reception?
- How many cars can park, and where?
- Is the site accessible for guests with limited mobility?
Infrastructure
- What power is available, where, and how much? Is three-phase available?
- Is there potable water, and a wash-up area for the caterer?
- What are the bathrooms — plumbed, or hired portables?
- How many toilets and showers, and where are they?
- Is there a kitchen, and what is in it?
- Is there mobile reception and Wi-Fi?
- Where does waste go, and who removes it?
Confirm what power, water and guest amenities are already included. A venue that has them sorted saves you organising them, which is why the inclusions list tells you more than the headline hire fee.
Suppliers
- Can we choose our own caterer, bar, florist and celebrant?
- Is there a preferred supplier list, and is it mandatory?
- Is there a fee for using suppliers who are not on the list?
- Can we supply our own alcohol?
- What do you need from our suppliers — insurance, licences, certificates?
- What time can suppliers arrive, and when must they leave?
Weather
- What exactly happens to the ceremony if it rains?
- Where do guests stand during the cocktail hour in that scenario?
- Does the wet-weather space already exist, or does it need to be hired?
- What does the ground do after heavy rain?
- Is flooring available? Is heating?
- Who makes the wet-weather call, and by what time?
- Has a wedding ever had to move off the property?
That last question is the most revealing one you can ask, and the answer is usually given honestly.
Noise, timing and rules
- What time does amplified music have to finish?
- Can the party continue after that, and where?
- Are there restrictions on fireworks, sparklers, confetti or open flame?
- Are there neighbours, and how close?
- Are pets allowed?
Cost and contract
- What exactly is included in the hire fee? Ask for the list in writing.
- What is charged separately, and at what rate?
- Is accommodation included, and for how many nights and people?
- What is the deposit, and when are the payments due?
- What is the cancellation and postponement policy?
- Is there a security bond, and what draws on it?
- What insurance do you require from us?
Every question on this list has a factual answer. A vague reply to a factual question is itself the answer.
How to run the visit
Go at roughly the time of day your ceremony will be. Walk the distances — car park to ceremony, ceremony to reception, reception to bathrooms — because guests will walk them in the dark, possibly in the rain.
Take photographs of the practical things rather than the pretty things: the power outlets, the kitchen, the bathrooms, the ground where the marquee would go. Ask for the inclusions in writing afterwards, and read the contract against your notes.
Then ask the one question that is not on any list: what usually goes wrong here, and how do you handle it? A venue that has an immediate, specific answer has been paying attention.
Our answers, in short
Friday to Sunday, one wedding at a time across approximately eighty acres, with no other event, unrelated accommodation guests or public access during your booking. Guest numbers are confirmed before you book. Power, water, homestead kitchen, fire pit and level marquee ground included, and the amenities trailer provides four hot showers and five private toilets in addition to the farmhouse bathrooms. Up to 13 people sleeping on site across two nights. Full BYO with no preferred list and no supplier fees. Four reception options: open air, one spider marquee at $1,000, two at $2,000, or your own external enclosed marquee. Amplified music to 11pm. Fire-pit use is subject to venue conditions, weather, fire restrictions and the agreed event schedule. $8,800 including GST, with a written inclusions list, and a reply within 24 hours.
Our full written inclusions are on the weddings page.
The short version
- Ask about hours and exclusivity before anything else.
- Confirm what power, water and guest amenities are already included.
- Make the venue describe the wet-weather plan element by element.
- Get the inclusions as a written list, not a conversation.
- Visit at ceremony time, and walk every distance your guests will walk.
Common questions
How to use the list without turning the visit into an interrogation.
What questions should you ask a wedding venue?
The essential ten: how many hours do we have, is anyone else on site, what is the guest capacity for our format, what power and water is available, what are the bathrooms, can we choose our own suppliers, what happens if it rains, when does music have to stop, what exactly is in the hire fee, and what is the deposit and cancellation policy.
What are the red flags at a wedding venue?
Vague answers to factual questions. If a venue cannot tell you its access hours, its power supply or its wet-weather plan in a sentence, that is information rather than an oversight. Mandatory supplier lists with fees attached, and capacity figures quoted for standing when you are planning to seat, are the other two to watch.
How many wedding venues should you visit?
Three to five is usually enough if you have done the filtering properly beforehand. Visit the shortlist in person and at roughly the time of day your ceremony will be, because light and noise are both very different at 4pm than at 11am.
What should be included in a wedding venue hire fee?
At minimum, the space, the access hours and the infrastructure — power, water, bathrooms, parking. Beyond that it varies enormously. Ask for the inclusions as a written list rather than a conversation, and ask what is charged separately.
When should you book a wedding venue?
For a peak date, twelve to eighteen months ahead. Venues that take one wedding at a time have limited weekends, so the date is effectively the booking — hold it before you plan around it.